Nguyen Van Hieu, aka Hieu Vinh, 30, of Nghi Duc District, Vinh City, was detained yesterday and would be prosecuted for the “illegal detention of others,” said the provincial Social Crime Investigation Police Department.
Earlier, on October 10, Hieu Vinh ordered his subordinates to seize Trinh Van Tai and Vuong Trung Kien, who he blamed for the killing of Nguyen Trong Bang, a man who lived in the same district as him.
Tai and Kien were brutally beaten by the ring’s members and were forced to provide information on Bang’s death.
After locals reported the case, police launched an investigation and identified Vinh’s gang as the culprit of the illegal detention.
On December 16, when Hieu Vinh and his men returned to his home after a trip to recover debts for an individual who had hired them, 30 armed police officers rushed in and seized Vinh, along with 30 other members of the ring.
The raid was carried out so rapidly and with such powerful force that Hieu Vinh and his men did not even have time to take any action.
The house was searched and the police found and seized three shields made of stainless steel, a bulletproof vest made in the US, three guns, 74 bullets, heavy duty diagonal cutting pliers, a 1.1 meter sword, two 1-meter iron sticks, an iron cudgel, and four choppers.
The police also seized VND230 million (US$11,000) from the ring.
“Hieu Vinh’s ring has recently emerged in the province. It attracted more than 100 debauched young men who have previous convictions,” Lieutenant Colonel Phan Dang Hong, head of task force No. 2, said.